The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-296525 (filed on Oct. 29, 1997), Japanese Patent Application No. 9-296783 (filed on Oct. 29, 1997), Japanese Patent Application No. 9-296784 (filed on Oct. 29, 1997) and Japanese Patent Application No. 10-207292 (filed on Jul. 23, 1998), which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drainage tube introducer for an endoscope that is used through an instrument-inserting channel of the endoscope to introduce a drainage tube into a body cavity for the purpose of draining (through-draining) a narrow part in the body cavity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To draw accumulated pancreatic juice from the pancreas or the pancreatic duct into the stomach, a technique uses a drainage tube introducer for an endoscope that has a drainage tube guide wire removably inserted therein. The drainage tube introducer is passed through an instrument-inserting channel of an endoscope (particularly, an ultrasonic endoscope) to puncture the pancreas from the inner wall of the stomach.
Thereafter, with the distal end of the drainage tube guide wire left in the pancreatic duct, the drainage tube introducer is drawn out of the patient's body. Then, a drainage tube is inserted into the pancreatic duct by passing it over the drainage tube guide wire. Finally, the drainage tube guide wire is drawn out of the patient's body, thereby enabling the drainage tube to be left under the conditions that one end of the drainage tube opens into the pancreatic duct, and the other end opens into the stomach.
A general drainage tube introducer used in the above-described procedure has a wire guide tube that has a distal end formed in the shape of a syringe needle. The wire guide tube is arranged to allow the drainage tube guide wire to be removably inserted therein over the entire length thereof. The wire guide tube is axially movably inserted in a sheath that is removably inserted into an instrument-inserting channel of an endoscope.
Incidentally, it is not easy for the drainage tube introducer to reach the pancreatic duct from the inner wall of the stomach because it must be stabbed to a considerable depth against great resistance. Furthermore, the drainage tube introducer may damage a blood vessel in the depths that cannot be seen from the surface. Because bleeding in the depths cannot be observed through an endoscope, there are many cases where the operator cannot be free from anxiety when performing a treatment using the drainage tube introducer.